R.O.B. the robot appears in some of the already-revealed movie merch

The crackdown continues despite the launch of the Switch 2

The PC gaming handheld seems poised for potential price hikes around the globe

Featuring your favorite characters, Grimace, um, Fry Girl, and, um, Cheeseburger Chair?

Looking to stretch your mind in VR? Here are some of our favorite puzzle games available on Quest today.

There’s something unique about puzzle games in VR. When you can reach out and touch the world around you, the genre transforms into something magical. Games like Lumines Arise and Tetris Effect: Connected wrap you in a warm sensory blanket while narrative puzzlers like Red Matter and Ghost Town immerse you in their story in ways wholly unique to VR.

Meta Quest users have no shortage of puzzle games. From meditative and musical experiences to emotionally powerful narrative puzzlers that challenge your mind and stir your emotions, here are some of the best the genre has to offer.

Tetris Effect: Connected

With Tetris Effect, Tetsuya Mizuguchi and his colleagues at Enhance tapped into something remarkable. The 2018 release took the classic puzzle game from the 1980s and transformed it into a musical trance masterpiece. In 2020, the updated Tetris Effect: Connected added co-op and competitive multiplayer, and it remains one of the best puzzle games to this day.

Tetris Effect: Connected wraps you in reactive visuals and music that evolve with your moves. Every rotation, every slammed block, every cleared row adds a new dimension to the soundtrack so that playing Tetris Effect: Connected becomes less about traditional gaming and more about entering a flow state. It’s the ultimate VR vibe game, and beautifully demonstrates VR’s power to elevate traditional gameplay into something greater.

Buy it here.

From Pong To VR: Tetsuya Mizuguchi’s Quest To Make Games That Move You

With Lumines Arise launching this November on PS VR2 and Steam, we interviewed Tetsuya Mizuguchi about his career and how Enhance are approaching this new entry.

UploadVRJames Tocchio

The Room VR: A Dark Matter

If you love mechanical puzzles, secret compartments, and mysterious artifacts, Fireproof Games’ The Room VR: A Dark Matter is an essential game for your Quest collection. Not only is it one of the most immersive puzzle games on Quest, it’s also one of the most visually impressive.

In this narrative puzzle game built exclusively for VR and set in 1908 London, you’re tasked with investigating the mysterious disappearance of a renowned Egyptologist after a police investigation yields no result. The 5-6 hour-long adventure will have you exploring cryptic locations with fantastic gadgets as you work your way through an opaque mystery.

In addition to its standalone release, Fireproof Games has also bundled The Room VR: A Dark Matter into a two-pack alongside the team’s extraordinary Ghost Town (mentioned later in this list).

Get it here.

I Expect You To Die (Series)

Part slapstick comedy, part absurd escape room, part mid-century spy parody, the I Expect You To Die series drops you into increasingly ridiculous and deadly scenarios, and tasks you with saving yourself (and the world) from the nefarious super-villain Dr. Zor. You’ll explode, get swarmed by bees, zapped by lasers, and try to survive, all from the comfort of your Quest headset. Clever design rewards experimentation, and the tongue-in-cheek humor makes failure feel fun.

There are three mainline I Expect You To Die games on Quest, which can be purchased separately, or bundled together as part of the Phoenix Rising Trilogy.

Get it here.

The House of Da Vinci

As Leonardo Da Vinci’s most promising apprentice, you are summoned to Florence only to find that Leonardo has mysteriously disappeared. Thus begins The House of Da Vinci, a challenging puzzle mystery that our reviewer described as “one of the best VR puzzle games I’ve ever played, delivering an experience that’s been lovingly created with reverence to its historical inspiration.”

Gameplay takes the shape of escape room-style challenges in which we manipulate complex machines, peer into the past, and solve puzzles based on Da Vinci’s real-life inventions. Gorgeous visuals and advanced riddles make this a perfect game for puzzle fans and art history buffs alike.

Get it here.

Ghost Town

The latest phenomenal mystery from Fireproof Games, Ghost Town is a narrative puzzle game set in the 1980s that puts players in the shoes of Edith, an Irish witch turned exorcist and ghost hunter. “What follows,” says Henry Stockdale in our review last year, “is a thoroughly gripping narrative that sees us searching for Edith’s missing brother. Fireproof’s not afraid to have some fun with this story[…]”

One of Ghost Town’s great strengths is that it strikes a great balance. It tells a story, but does so with both humor and suspense, and its puzzles, while challenging, never feel overly difficult. The end result is, as our review put it, “one of the best VR games so far this year.”

Get it here.

Ghost Town Review: An Utterly Engrossing Supernatural VR Adventure

Ghost Town is a brilliant supernatural puzzle adventure from The Room VR studio that you won’t want to miss.

UploadVRHenry Stockdale

Humanity

Humanity is a third-person puzzle-action game in which your goal is to guide a massive mob of humanity to the end point of each level. You lead the pack as a cute Shiba Inu, leading the seemingly mindless humans as they jump, turn, push, float, shoot, and climb their way toward salvation across 90 story-mode stages.

Another game from Tetsuya Mizuguchi’s Enhance, Humanity is a flatscreen critical darling that has really stuck the landing on Quest. It was voted VR Game of the Year at the 2023 EDGE Awards, ranked Best Puzzle Game of 2023 by Game Informer magazine, and was nominated for Best VR / AR Game at The Game Awards in 2023.

As with most of Mizuguchi and Enhance’s games, there’s more than meets the eye here. And while the game’s online servers and user-generated level support are ending in March, 2026, there’s enough meat on the base game’s bones to warrant a thorough chewing.

Get it here.

Red Matter & Red Matter 2

These narrative-heavy adventures blend environmental puzzles with atmospheric world-building and deliver some of the most impressive visuals yet seen on Quest headsets.

The first game drops you into a retro-futuristic Cold War space race where you play as Agent Epsilon, sent to a deserted Volgravian base on Rhea, Saturn’s mysterious moon to investigate a secret project with the potential to change humanity’s destiny forever. And once you’re done with that, fire up Red Matter 2 for yet another stunning story.

Start with Red Matter here, or buy the two-game bundle.

Myst

Few games define the puzzle genre like Myst. For most gamers of a certain age, it was the first puzzle game we’d ever played (and the first we’d ever owned on CD-ROM). In VR, its enigmatic puzzles and lonesome island feel more tangible than ever.

Built from the ground up by Cyan Worlds, the indie studio that created the beloved classic way back in 1993, Myst for Quest is a definitive reimagining of one of the greatest puzzle games ever made. It brings new art, new sound, new interactions, and optional puzzle randomization.

When you’ve finished unraveling the mysterious island of Myst, you may be tempted to jump into its sequel, Riven. While Riven is a must-play for fans of the original flatscreen version, or for those who simply can’t get enough of the Myst universe, in truth, Riven on Quest is not a very strong adaptation. It’s good, just not as great as Myst.

Myst Added The Age Of Rime In Major Update

Myst’s VR remake introduced the Age of Rime in a recent update.

UploadVRSarah Thwaites

The Last Clockwinder

Called “One of the most unique and creative VR games ever” by Polygon, and “the best puzzle game since Portal” by Beardo Benjo, The Last Clockwinder is a creative and clever game that our own review described as “a true delight and gem of a puzzle game that’s well worth your time.”

The main mechanic of the game centers on mapping your real-life physical actions to several robotic “clones” which will repeat your actions indefinitely. This allows you to create a sort of production line that moves fruit from one place to another, feeding the health of a mystical tree. It’s a gameplay hook that defies explanation, but it’s one that’s totally engaging and superbly executed. Add to this a mysterious story that’s “an absolute delight to unravel” and we have all the makings of a VR classic.

Get it here.

A Fisherman’s Tale

In A Fisherman’s Tale, you play as a reclusive fisherman puppet who awakens locked inside a lighthouse. In the center of the room sits a model of the very same lighthouse, with a tiny version of yourself inside, and a larger one outside, mimicking your every move. The perspective-bending puzzles begin from there.

When we reviewed the game some years ago, we gave it 5 out of 5 stars and said it “might be the first [Quest game] to achieve a perfect storm of gameplay, immersion and narrative in a single experience. [A Fisherman’s Tale] fuses experience and interactivity to really show what this medium is capable of.”

The game’s sequel, Another Fisherman’s Tale, doubles down on the original’s creativity with whole new gameplay mechanics. It’s imaginative, slightly absurd, and filled with tactile puzzle design.

You can get both games here.

Puzzling Places

Another special experience that could only exist in VR, Puzzling Places lets you build gorgeous photorealistic dioramas of beautiful places from all over the world, either in full VR or in the familiar comfort of your own space in mixed reality. There are no timers, no pressure; just pure, mindful building at a peaceful puzzling pace, alone or with others in online multiplayer and local MR co-op modes.

The base game includes 25 puzzles, and a massive collection of DLC puzzles continues to grow. The most recent, a gorgeous Van Gogh-inspired impressionist diorama, joins previous themed puzzles such as cities of the world, a haunted house, underwater seascapes, and dozens more.

Get it here.

Cubism

Clean shapes and floating blocks, Cubism strips puzzle design down to its essentials. You rotate and place geometric shapes into transparent containers, building increasingly complex forms in full VR or MR modes. Hand tracking makes the game play seamlessly and intuitively, and the balance of relaxation and challenge is perfectly struck.

While the concept of Cubism is great, what really sets it above is the game’s minimalist aesthetic. As in old Japan Studio games like Echochrome, or Keita Takahashi’s Katamari Damacy, there’s a simplicity of concept that we also find in Cubism. As we shift pastel-colored shapes into place, the resonant strings of a rich piano strum a beautiful backing soundtrack. The overall vibe is elegant, calming, and clever.

Get it here.

Gadgeteer

Gadgeteer lets you build elaborate chain-reaction machines in both VR and MR using ramps, marbles, dominoes, and motors, creating chain reactions that may even end up tearing apart the fabric of space-time.

There are over 60 physics puzzles, plus sandbox environments that let you build whatever wild machines you like. Hundreds of community-made puzzles round out the experience. For older gamers who might remember launching the MS-DOS build of The Incredible Machine on some ancient PC, watching your Gadgeteer contraption unfold in 3D space feels like a dream come true.

Get it here.

Shadow Point

Shadow Point is a story-driven puzzle game in which you’ll explore a vibrant kingdom and solve mind-bending puzzles as you uncover the mystery of missing schoolgirl, Lorna McCabe who vanished from Shadow Point Observatory twelve years ago. As your adventure unfolds, you will manipulate gravity, play with shadows, work with your own reflection, walk on walls, peer through a magical lens to reveal an alternate reality and much more.

Narrated by Sir Patrick Stewart, Shadow Point combines over 80 puzzles with a reflective story about memory and mentorship. Its paper doll-esque art style is gorgeous and evocative and its light-and-shadow mechanics are clever. We recommended the game in our review some years ago, though we felt Stewart to be underutilized. More than anything else, however, the game’s emotional framing elevates it to a must-play.

Get it here.

Quest Launch Title Shadow Point Is Coming To PSVR

Coatsink is bringing its Quest launch title, Shadow Point, over to PSVR this month. The game, which also came to Rift, will launch on Sony’s headset on March 22nd for $19.99. Check out the PSVR announcement trailer for the game below. Coatsink PSVR Released Shadow Point sees players

UploadVRJamie Feltham

Whether you want a musical flow state (Tetris Effect, Lumines Arise), a story-rich adventure (Red Matter, Shadow Point), or relaxing brain training (Cubism, Puzzling Places), Quest offers some of the most inventive puzzle design in gaming today.

For more of the best of VR, check these out:

• Best Meta Quest 3 Games
• Best PC VR Games
• Best PlayStation VR Games
• Best PlayStation VR2 Games

Rising memory costs could torpedo a “carefully orchestrated strategy”

More people are playing the single-player RPG than Hades 2 and Overwatch

The post ‘VRChat’ Breaks All-Time Concurrent User Record with Japanese Anime Concert appeared first on Road to VR.

The Illustrator Pikachu was bought for $5.3 million in 2022, and wasn’t worth that then

A space race is kicking off between our brightest billionaires

Snake is the latest new operator to come to Ubisoft’s tactical multiplayer shooter

It was Shakespeare who said ‘a rose by any other name’ but it’s Edgar Allan Poe who’s going to find out if there’s any truth to that

The horror team is returning to their first major franchise

We could have had a cross-town railway by now, instead we’re turning the streets into a battleground

Omelet You Cook is finally out of Early Access on Steam

Lego Batman just cleaved its recommended RAM in half

Maybe the secret to making the internet fun is making it incomprehensibly fast

Sato and his team were behind everything from the SG-1000 up through the Dreamcast

ByteDance might sell the maker of Mobile Legends: Bang Bang to Savvy Games

Den of Wolves isn’t out yet and its developers are already being laid off